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Unethical employer - advice appreciated from anyone in social work or council roles

4 replies

Mussol · 29/12/2024 23:16

I recently started work for a company that is meant to provide specialist support to people with a rare and complex disability. I'm keeping this vague because the disability is rare enough for the company to be identifiable.

Local authorities are commissioning the company's services in the belief that all the support workers have very specific skills and qualifications needed by this client group. These skills take a long time to develop and the company charges a correspondingly high rate.

The problem is that only two of the staff are actually qualified, and one of them works part-time hours. The vast majority of the time our clients are being supported by staff who are no better trained than a support worker in a more generic disability service would be, but the local authority seems completely in the dark about this. I struggle to believe they'd be paying through the nose to hire specialists if they knew that we're anything but specialist!

I think for the clients' safety I need to report it, but I'm not sure how. Would this be classed as organisational abuse? There is a raising concerns form on the local council's website, but it asks for dates and details of specific incidents, witnesses, etc. and there isn't any one incident as such. It's that the company is actively seeking referrals and getting funding with the promise of 'specialist expertise' that isn't here.

OP posts:
clareykb · 29/12/2024 23:25

Hiya I work in this field op (disabilities S.W) am assuming it's BSL trained workers or similar? Is there a contact in the council st comossioning you could talk to? Where I work it is them who source the providers

Brinny · 29/12/2024 23:33

C.Q.C if you raise a safeguarding with them, as well as telephoning the local safeguarding triage team , your company should of given you info on their policies and procedures, sending untrained staff is seriously wrong.This had to be reported before someone gets hurt.

Falafelolive · 29/12/2024 23:53

Look for your local authoritys whistle blowing policy

EmmaMaria · 30/12/2024 11:35

Check your local council's safeguarding page - there will be details there of how to contact them. Don't go through the commissioning team first - with respect they should have checked the supplier was compliant, so they are eithe incompetant or worse.

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